Systemic isotretinoin effectively treats all forms of acne vulgaris. However, it has many side-effects, some potentially serious, that warrant limiting its use to serious cases of acne. Inappropriate use in large numbers of patients puts prescribers at risk of malpractice litigation should serious side-effects occur where safer alternative treatments were ...

The majority of women with fragility fractures have osteopenia rather than osteoporosis. In post hoc analyses of trials of alendronate and strontium ranelate, women with osteopenia had significant reductions in the incidence of fragility fractures and specific therapies may be mandated in women with osteopenia, as well as those with ...

Neuropathic pain (NeuP) is challenging to diagnose and manage, despite ongoing improved understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Many patients do not respond satisfactorily to existing treatments. There are no published guidelines for diagnosis or management of NeuP in South Africa. A multidisciplinary expert panel critically reviewed available evidence to provide ...

Each year, 70 000 South Africans are killed by trauma, and a further 3.5 million seek trauma care. We analysed 1 465 trauma patients at the regional-level King Edward VIII Hospital (KE8H) in eThekwini Municipality. Mean patient age was 29 years. Peaks in patient numbers were observed mid-month, at month-end, ...

Two hundred years ago, the naturalist William John Burchell departed from Cape Town on extensive travels in South Africa 'solely for the purpose of acquiring knowledge'. An intelligent observer who was exceptionally skilled at recording his observations in words and pictures, he is remembered for numerous contributions to the country ...

Background. The shortage of doctors in all specialties in Malawi is particularly severe in rural areas. Contributory factors are the low number of students graduating each year, migration of doctors, and the preference of new graduates for practising in urban areas. Attempts to increase the output from Malawi's only medical ...

Objectives. To explore the acceptability and feasibility of routine
HIV screening in children at primary healthcare clinics and ascertain
the prevalence of previously undiagnosed HIV infection in
17-24-month-old children accessing curative and routine services.

Objectives. To determine the current door-to-needle time for the administration of fibrinolytics for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in emergency centres (ECs) at three hospitals in Cape Town, and to compare it with the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) recommendation of 30 minutes as a marker of quality of ...

Objective. A visual prostate symptom score (VPSS) compared with the international prostate symptom score (IPSS) for evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) can be completed without physician assistance by a significantly larger proportion of men with limited education. We aimed to evaluate the correlation of the VPSS and IPSS ...

Background. The Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre paediatric liver transplant programme is the second such unit in sub-Saharan Africa. Initiated in November 2005, it forms part of the centre's solid organ transplant unit, comprising kidney, liver and simultaneous kidney-pancreas arms. Initially established in the private sector, we recently received government ...